Day 30 Wrap: Brazil veteran's praise for Socceroos

There's just one more session in Kazan before the Socceroos travel to Samara.

With the full squad back out on the field on Monday, the team is now well and truly in preparation mode for Thursday night’s clash with Denmark - at 10pm AEST on Optus Sport and SBS.

After Day 29, where the players who started against France did a recovery session, all 23 of Bert van Marwijk’s players were put through their paces in Kazan.

Here’s a wrap of Day 30 in Socceroos camp, brought to you by Caltex. Stay tuned to socceroos.com.au as we provide daily updates for the FIFA World Cup™…

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Tomi Juric and Josh Risdon had missed training on Day 29 but returned to the field to join the other 20 outfield players who began the session with a running program overseen by assistant coach Roel Coumans.

The players were put through their paces with gradual increases in intensity and changes of direction to prepare them for the behind-closed-doors component of the session as they prepare to face Denmark.

The fitness of Juric is an important boost for van Marwijk, creating a selection headache about who should start at No.9 for the next FIFA World Cup™ game.

Andrew Nabbout started and toiled hard against the French, while Juric came off the bench and made an instant impact by picking up the ball and running directly at the opposition back line.

Aaron Mooy and Robbie Kruse walk to training in Kazan
Aaron Mooy and Robbie Kruse walk to training in Kazan

Juric has also spoken of the continued positivity around camp, echoing the words of Mile Jedinak, who pinpointed the need for players to take positives away from the 2-1 loss to open Group C.

“There’s an immense atmosphere of positivity I think mostly because the way we played was absolutely fantastic,” Juric told socceroos.com.au.

“I think that is something that we can be really proud of and take forward into our next two games against Denmark and Peru.

“We saw in that game (against France) that we can do things and play against top opposition. France is one of the favourites to go on and win the World Cup and we played a fantastic game against them and the coaching staff was full of compliments.”

Juric also shared a story from assistant coach Mark van Bommel, with the former Dutch international and captain receiving messages from former teammates praising the performance of Australia.

Van Bommel, who enjoyed a stellar playing career including stints with FC Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayen Munich, received one particular message from a former teammate still involved in Brazil’s squad for the FIFA World Cup™.

“I think Mark van Bommel got a text message from one of his former team mates, Thiago Silva, complimenting us on how well we played against a top opposition,” added Juric.

Bert van Marwijk and Mark van Bommel watch on
Bert van Marwijk and Mark van Bommel watch on

“Everything is still up in the air and up for grabs and I am very positive about our chances of progressing through this group.”

Stay tuned for exclusive Socceroos training camp photos, footage and insight on socceroos.com.au or follow us on TwitterInstagram or Facebook.

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This article was originally published on the Socceroos website.
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